


You said I was enough.

by AaronDingleAndHisRobert



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Anger, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt, M/M, robron - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 05:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8652268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AaronDingleAndHisRobert/pseuds/AaronDingleAndHisRobert
Summary: Rebecca's just told Aaron about the kiss she and Robert shared and Aaron questions whether his and Robert's relationship is worth it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Robron Oneshot I have ever written and I finished writing it before the spoiler clip was released so the reveal isn't set in the same setting but I hope you still enjoy it anyway.
> 
> I'm really sorry for any mistakes there may be. (There probably will be) 
> 
> x

There's been a few times in Aaron's life when he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole; like the time he hurt Paddy because the man managed to drag the truth out of him about his sexuality or the time Jackson begged him to say that he loved him back but he just couldn’t. More recently when Gordon forced himself back into Aaron's life, all of them were times Aaron wished he didn't have to deal with his life, wished he could just run away to somewhere that things were simple and Un-complicated.

Now was also one of those times. Rebecca looks so smug, her mouth quirked up in an innocent smile as if she hasn't just completely turned Aaron's future upside down.

With a tilt of her head, Rebecca brushes a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes and shrugs, "Do you really think you're enough for him?! C'mon Aaron, Robert needs far more than you have to offer him!" She laughs almost cruelly, her mouth bent in another smirk that just makes Aaron want to re-evaluate his policy on hitting women.

"What do you know about what I have to offer Robert?! You know nothing about our life together or our relationship." Aaron sneers, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

"Besides what do you have to offer him? Your father’s money?! Home Farm?! Chrissie had all that to offer him and he still wanted me! You really think you can compare to that?" Aaron almost growls, full of false bravado, he won't let her see how much all of this is hurting him. “So he kissed you back. It's hardly proof that he's going to give up our life for you is it?!"

"He said 'now isn't the right time.' He was just scared you'd catch us together! He wants me! He wants what we had again!" Rebecca almost screeches.

Aaron isn't sure whether she's trying to convince him or herself at this point. She's desperate that much is clear; desperate to validate what she thinks is there between her and Robert but Aaron isn't in any mood to give her the satisfaction of her own delusions. He might be hurt that Robert kissed her back, he might be questioning their relationship and what he thought it stood for but even he knows that Rebecca was a means to an end, nothing more.

"He used you Rebecca! You ate right into his hands and he got what he wanted! Lauchlan confessed. Andy's name has been cleared and who did he wake up next to this morning? Oh right me!" Aaron growls motioning to himself, he almost smiles when Rebecca's smirk falls but as quickly as it faded its back twice as fast, a little forced but there in all its irritating glory.

"I get that you're trying to make yourself feel better Aaron but don't kid yourself into thinking what me and Robert did meant nothing! You will never be enough for him and when he gets bored of playing the happy family man he'll come looking for the fun and excitement he isn't getting from you! It's really only a matter of time." Rebecca says with a shrug of her petite shoulders, her face taking a hard edge that wasn't there before like she's angry at Aaron for not bending to her will.

Aaron almost feels sorry for the women, listening to her repeatedly defending a relationship that isn't there. Robert clearly exploited her feelings for him and gave her just a glimpse of what she wanted but damn was she like a damn dog with a bone.

"Can't you see how pathetic you look right now? You're throwing yourself at an engaged man. The same man who chose your sister over you and now he's chosen me over her! So where on the list does that leave you Rebecca?!"

Rebecca's face falls once more and just like before Aaron's tempted to lift his lips up into a smirk of his own but he doesn't, instead he steps into Rebecca's space giving her a disgusted once over and shakes his head.

"It's just sad how deluded you're being. Do you really have such little self-respect that you'd turn on your own family to get Robert between your legs?!" He says it in a harsh whisper and as nasty as his words are, Aaron refuses to feel bad for saying them, she needs to hear them if she's ever going to pull what's left of her life back together.

"You and Robert had an affair four years ago then he married your sister. Now he's going to marry me. You're old news Rebecca! He has no more use or need for you!" Aaron growls voice low and rough. "Now do one before I do something I'll regret." It isn't a request it's an order, one Rebecca rushes to obey because even she isn't cocky enough to push Aaron any further than she already has. She doesn't need the rumors to know Aaron has a temper.

Aaron wants to feel some sort of satisfaction from the way Rebecca rushes to the door, her face suddenly drained of colour and her hands shaking around the door handle as she tugs it open but all he feels is the bitter burn of betrayal. How could Robert do this to him?! After he asked him to stay away from her?! It hurts more than Aaron cares to admit, even to himself.

With the rush of adrenaline from standing up to Rebecca fading fast, Aaron stumbles on unsteady feet towards the kitchen table, falling into one of the chairs with a weary sigh. He won't cry at-least that's what he tells himself as his eyes begin to sting.

*

Aaron isn't entirely sure how long he sits there, mind whirling and emotions all over the place, he just knows that the sun light that was lighting up the room when he first fell into his chair has long since gone down and the room was now enveloped in darkness, the only source of light coming in from the street lamps outside. Not that he pays much mind to the darkness; he's too lost in his own mind, thoughts stuck on a constant loop of ' _Robert kissed Rebecca. Robert betrayed my trust.'_

If this was happening to anyone else Aaron would be looking at the situation logically, would be able to figure out that Robert's motives behind kissing Rebecca had nothing to do with want of the actual women but what having her on side could offer but logic isn't a big factor in his thoughts right now, not when jealousy is swirling at the forefront of his emotions.

The longer he stews in the dark the more his anger and hurt builds. It isn't until the living room door opens and the lights flicker to life that Aaron notices that his fingernails are biting into the soft flesh of his palms, the pain doesn't really register but he sees the small crescent moon indents and knows that he needs to get his emotions in check, he begins telling himself to calm down until he realizes it's Robert who just walked through the door, looking just as good as he did this morning when he left Aaron happily sated in their bed.

It's unfair how much the sight of him still makes Aaron's damn heart race and his blood boil with want but all of that falls second to the betrayal that burns through Aaron at the sight of his fiance.

"Jesus! Why the hell are you sitting in the dark?" Robert gasps, one hand reaching for his chest just over where his heart's beating beneath. He's completely oblivious to how Aaron's feeling as he moves swiftly towards the kitchen to flick on the kettle, words tumbling from his mouth that Aaron isn't in any state of mind to pay any attention to.

"You kissed Rebecca!" The words sound far too calm to Aaron's own ears so he has no idea how the statement sounds to Robert but by the way his hands drop from fussing with their tea cups and the way Robert goes completely still, Aaron's pretty sure his words have been heard.

"Aaron, I..." The words barely leave Robert's lips before Aaron holds up a hand to silence him.

"I don't need nor want any of your excuses, Robert! I'm not stupid. I know why you did it. I know why you didn't push her away... At-least I think I do but what I don't understand is what she was doing here in the first place!" His words are still far too calm, the normal anger and passion that Aaron usually shows is nowhere to be seen and that worries Robert more than if Aaron was shouting at him because he knows Aaron, knows that he's only quiet when he feels like he's got no more fight left to give. When he feels like giving up.

"I asked you to stay away from her! I warned you that she was nothing but trouble and now look what's happened! You cheated on me!" The tears that Aaron managed to avoid up until now finally spill over, lines of salt water trailing down his face only to be wiped roughly away with the back of his hand.

"I didn't cheat on you! I would never cheat on you! I didn't react as soon as I should have and I didn't push her away the moment she kissed me like I should have but I did after a few seconds, it was nothing more than that Aaron I promise! It meant nothing!" In his haste to reassure his fiance, Robert knocks down his favorite mug with an echoing crash but he ignores the mess in favor of rushing to pull Aaron's chair out and crouch in front of him.

Aaron avoids looking at him, focusing back on his hands that are still clenched so tight that his nails are once again biting into his skin, Robert's quick to notice and reaches out to un-clench them only to have Aaron flinch away from his touch.

"Aaron, please..." At the whisper of his name Aaron finally looks up, eyes red and glassy with tears.

"You let another person kiss you Robert! And you kissed her back, in my book that's cheating!" Aaron cries, his voice finally rising in volume. It gives Robert hope! Hope that Aaron isn't ready to give up on them.

"I pushed her away!"

"Not before you kissed her back!"

The two of them stare at one another for a minute or two but then Aaron moves to stand up, pushing past Robert to instead pace the length of the backroom.

"You told me I was enough! You said no one else comes close!" Aaron yells, coming to a stop by the couch. Robert almost jumps from the sudden boom of his voice.

"And I meant everything I said!"

"How could you have meant it? When not even a month after we get engaged you're kissing someone else in our home?" Aaron's voice wavers toward the end knowing full well that the next words out of his mouth were going to hurt them both. "I can't do this anymore, Rob!"

Robert’s head shoots up at that, his eyes wide with fear and his heart now beating twice as fast. "W-what do you mean you can't do this anymore?! You can't give up on us Aaron, you just can't! Please Aaron. I need you!"

"You should have thought about that before you invited Rebecca into our lives, into our home!" Aaron’s shouting again, his face red from his crying. "You play your little games Robert and you expect to get everything you want but you never think about the people you’re hurting in the process! You're supposed to love me! I'm your Fiance for Christ sake!"

Aaron fights back more tears as his right hand starts reaching for his left to play with the beautiful platinum band on his ring finger. He plays with his engagement ring a lot. At first he played with it because it felt new and strange on his finger but after the first few weeks it just felt like a part of him that was always there, it became second nature to run his fingers over the warm metal whenever his hands were free. He liked having proof of his and Robert's love for one another but now he wasn't so sure.

"At-least I was your fiance...''

The words sit heavy in the air as the two men stare at one another; Robert's on the verge of tears now, breathing heavily as he watches with dread as Aaron reaches for his engagement ring and begins to slide it off his finger.

"No! Please, please Aaron don't, don’t do this! Don't give up on me, don't give up on us. I know I'm selfish and I know I’ve made a huge mistake but I can't lose you! You and Liv, you're my world! Please I can't lose you both!" Robert's crying now and with a trembling chin he rushes over to cover Aaron's hands with his own.

"Please baby, don't do this. You can't do this, please. I need you! You make me want to be a better person! A better person for you, for Liv! I can't lose either of you! I just can't!" Robert begs still clutching Aaron's hands in his in the hopes that it will stop him from taking off the ring that he didn't manage to fully remove before Robert grabbed him.

"I won't be turned it to one of those people Robert! Sitting at home alone wondering if my husband's out cheating on me or not, I won't!" Aaron says trying not to let Robert's emotions sway him, he hates seeing Robert cry, it hurts to see him so vulnerable but Aaron was hurt too and he had to do what was right for him.

"I shared you for long enough when you were with Chrissie! I can't go back there again, feeling like I'm not enough for you." Aaron states pulling his hands free from Robert's but he doesn't try to take his ring off again at-least for the time being.

"You are enough! Aaron you're more than enough!" Robert rushes to reassure him, allowing Aaron to pull his hands from his grasp too instead bring his hands up to frame Aaron's face. The scrapper tries to turn his face away but Robert just re-affirms his hold on Aaron's jaw, tilting his face up so that he can look him in the eye, "You're enough!"

Aaron's bottom lip trembles as he brings his hands up to grip Robert's wrists. He tells himself he does it to pull Robert's hands away but he just ends up holding onto the man as he looks up into Robert’s eyes.

"How could you?" The words are barely audible but Robert hears them, sees the hurt shining in Aaron's eyes and damn if that doesn't hurt.

"I wasn't thinking. Not properly, I saw an opportunity and I don't know I just took it without thinking about the consequences. I'm so sorry Aaron, truly I am. If I could take it back..." Robert trails off, his thumbs coming up to brush away the tears that escape Aaron's eyes, "Tell me what I have to do to fix this."

"I don't know if you can fix it this time." Aaron mumbles biting the inside of his lip before shaking his head to break Robert's hold on his face.

He's pretty sure he hears Robert whimper softly at the loss of contact but he doesn't try to grab Aaron again just moves a few steps away and falls on to the couch, burying his head in his hands.

Aaron doesn't like seeing Robert looking so small it's just so unlike him but it does help reassure him that Robert loves him, to see how devastated Robert looks at the prospect of losing him. It softens him around the edges somewhat. Enough so that he rounds the couch and takes a seat next to Robert leaving more of a gap than he ever has before but still sits close enough that he can feel Robert’s body heat.

"I always do this! I always mess up the best thing going for me!" Robert cries from behind his hands, the words are muffled but Aaron hears them, "I don't know why I do it, it's like I’ve got a damn self-destruct button that I feel the need to push the moment I feel even remotely happy!"

Aaron doesn't want to understand but he thinks he does, he's always been the kind of person to distrust when his life starts going his way. He always seems to find a way to make it all blow up in his face but this time he thought things would be different. He loves Robert even after everything they've been through, he still feels that deep kind of all-encompassing love that you read about in books and see in movies for the man sat beside him, feels it right at this very moment even with everything that's going on. It's there, it’s always there!

It makes Robert dangerous because he has the power to completely destroy him!

"I get the need to self-destruct when things seem like they're too good to go be true Robert but that's no excuse! I can't just forgive and forget this time." Aaron murmurs, unconsciously playing with the ring on his ring finger again. "We're supposed to be getting married! That may not mean something to you but it means more than you will ever know to me!"

"Of course it means something to me! I made mistakes the first time around but marrying you means the absolute world to me, Aaron!" Robert vows, lifting his head from his hands and turning to look at his fiance... At-least he hopes he's still his fiance. "You're everything, Aaron!"

The words burn though Aaron's soul and warm his chest in a way that seems entirely unfair when he's supposed to be angry with the man saying them but Robert has a way of doing that, making him feel like he's the most important person in the world as far as Robert's concerned and sometimes... Most of the time he thinks he is but then Robert does something to make him completely second guess himself.

"I want to believe you Robert but how can I?" Aaron whispers, swallowing around the lump in his throat as he meets Robert's eyes again.

"It's the truth! You’re my everything! I know I've been all caught up in trying to clear Andy's name and I'll admit I got carried away trying to get back at the Whites but I promise you the kiss was nothing more than a few seconds of madness." Robert tries to reassure him, tentatively reaching for Aaron's hands again.

When Aaron doesn't pull away straight away, Robert offers Aaron a small smile one that Aaron doesn't reciprocate but he still doesn't move away and Robert is going to count that as a win.

"I promise you Aaron nothing like this will ever happen again! I don't want anyone else, least of all Rebecca! Just give me a chance to prove to you that you're all I want. All I need! I won't let you down again, I promise just please don't give up on us." Robert begs, his thumb stroking over Aaron's engagement ring to reassure his self that it's still there, that they still have a future.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Robert." Aaron sighs; shaking his head as he begins to tug his hands free of Robert’s but the older man holds on tighter, carefully threading their fingers together.

"I can keep them, I will keep them! Aaron please I know I messed up big time but I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this. Fix us! I'm begging you, please." Robert doesn't beg often, in fact Aaron’s one of the only people he would ever truly let his guard down enough around to even consider begging.

Aaron knows it too, knows that Robert has never been as openly vulnerable with anyone the way he is with him and it once again weakens his conviction to leave Robert for kissing Rebecca. Not that he had very much conviction to begin with; he wants this to be over about as much as Robert does.

"Just because I'm not leaving you doesn't mean I forgive you..." Aaron's barely got the words out before Robert is letting his hands go in order to curl against Aaron's body, his long arms winding around Aaron's waist and his face burying into Aaron's neck.

Aaron will never understand how someone Robert's size manages to make himself small enough to curl into his shorter frame and not look incredibly awkward but Robert manages it and even looks ridiculously adorable while doing it too. Not that Aaron will ever tell Robert that.

"Like I said I haven't forgiven you yet. It's going to take time but if you can prove to me that this is what you really want and that you won't put our future on the line for some cheap thrills than maybe...maybe we can get through this." Aaron tells Robert firmly, pulling far enough out of Robert's embrace to look the man in the eye as he does so.

Robert begins nodding his head long before Aaron's finished talking but Aaron thinks he gets how serious he is. For now Aaron let's himself enjoy the warmth of Robert's body against his side, reminding his self that he's the one Robert wants to be with and that Rebecca has nothing to offer compared to what they have.

"You know..." Robert whispers against his neck, lips brushing Aaron's skin and he thinks he does know because Robert’s here and after everything they've been through they're together in one another's arms.

There's going to be bickering and arguments, they're going to have to fight for this and yeah it's going to be pretty messed up at times but isn't that what he agreed to when he let Robert put an engagement ring on his finger?! He knows it's going to be tough but he loves Robert! Unconditionally so even when he knows he shouldn't and that's why he lets Robert cup his jaw, lets him press an achingly soft kiss to his lips and melts into his embrace.

_**"I know!"** _


End file.
